My Drive Cirrus Plus power wheelchair doesnt move, it flashes the first two LEDs in red and when moving the joystick it won't move or make the sound. What could be wrong? The battery is at full charge

The Drive Cirrus Plus power wheelchair is a folding frame chair with a VSI controller. The VSI controller (joystick) will indicate a fault code when it detects a problem with your power chair. It is manufactured by a company called Penny Giles Drive Technology. An LED flash code of 2 on the battery display indicates that the left motor is disconnected. There may be a brake fault also.

The left motor can be disconnected at the plug where the VSI harness plugs into the motor plug. The pins for the motor or VSI output may be pushed back in the connector or not making contact due to corrosion or dirt. Unplug this connector and inspect the pins and make sure they are making good contact and are clean. Spray contact cleaner on the contacts to clean or re-orient the pins to make better contact. The folding frame of the chair may have dislodged the connector. The wiring harness from the motor may be pinched or cut. The brake wires and pins may have become disconnected also. The brake lever may be in the disengaged freewheel position causing a fault, so put the brake lever in the correct position. Strictly speaking, this fault code is for the motor only, but always check the motor/ brake assembly since the wiring runs from the same plug.

A certified technician will have a hand held programmer to read the computer (VSI) fault log and determine the number of error codes for the various components.

Using a digital voltmeter you can check the motor at the plug. The two large wires on this 4 pin plug go to the motor; the two small wires go to the brake. On the resistance scale the motor should read between 0 and 1.6 ohms. The brake should read between 30 to 60 ohms.

There is a chance that the output of the VSI controller is bad. To test this swap the left and right motor output connectors from the VSI. If the error code now indicates right motor disconnected (flash code 4) you have a good VSI and bad left motor. Swap the leads back after you are done with this test.

Try blocking up the chair and see if the motor runs with no load on it or after spinning the drive wheel by hand. You can also inspect the motor brushes for burning and wear. If you pull the brushes, do this carefully and blow out the dust from the motor armature. This may allow the motor to work again for a short time.

You will probably need to hire a technician if, after checking for bad connections and the brake lever in the wrong position, you still have problems. I like to replace the brake/ motor/ gearbox as a complete assembly to avoid future problems. Labor for the diagnosis and reading the fault code log with a hand held programmer should be under 1 hour. A return visit to replace the motor brake gearbox is under 1 hour. Hope this helps.